Canadian Firefighters Memorial, December 28, 2014

I took these photographs on my last visit to the Canadian Firefighters Memorial for 2014. The distinct lack of snow resulted from a four day mild spell. The almost cloud free sky and sun low in the sky made for long shadows early in the afternoon. I had to watch to keep the sun and my shadow out of the frame.

Canadian Firefighters Memorial, December 14, 2014

On this date the snow has arrived to stay. The snow does this neat thing. It shows where people have come to visit the memorial. A burlap cover has been added to the snow fence. Hopefully it will minimize the detrimental effect of much of the salt spray from the nearby road.

You can see tracks in the snow next to the wall. They come to a place at the
wall, get close to the wall and then go back again. It's nice to see that people
come to visit the memorial.

I hope that was the last time the snow clearance crews will pile the snow up on
that snow fence. It has already bent over from the weight. If the clearance
crews continue to pile the snow up like that it will defeat the purpose of the
snow fence.

Canadian Firefighters Memorial, November 30, 2014

This day was about 7º C / 45º F and very much overcast. Some of the oak trees seem determined to keep their leaves. Some of the smaller woody plants must be native to a harsher climate than this because, although all withered, their leaves are still green. We had persistent snow a few weeks ago but it's all gone now.

You can see here that a snow fence has been put in place. You can see two
oak trees here. The one on the right has dropped all its leaves. The one on
the left has held onto all its leaves even though they have all turned orange
and shriveled up.

These three pine trees have done incredibly well.

Canadian Firefighters Memorial, November 2, 2014

It's been three weeks since my last visit. The oak trees have changed colour fully. The maples have all changed colour and are about half way through dropping their leaves. The downy snowberries have dropped all their leaves. The three limber pines are doing very well. They are about twice the height they were when they were planted. The lone pine is a slow growing tree. I think it's going to be a few years before it begins to dominate the skyline.

I went across the street to photograph what I've been told is the site of the Holocaust Memorial. There is a fence surrounding an excavation there. On crossing back I got a view of the Canadian Firefighters Memorial that people get as they approach it from the West.